Metodología de la investigación - Las monedas sociales y complementarias como herramienta para

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PLATE I.

This is taken from a photograph of a small bronze image in the Meyer collection of the Free Museum, in Liverpool.

The figure stands about nine inches high, and represents Isis, Horus, and the fish. It is an apt illustration of an ancient custom, still prevalent among certain Christians, of reverencing a women, said to be a virgin, giving suck to her child, and the association of Isis, Venus, and Mary with the fish. Friday, for example, is, with the Romaists, both “fish day,” and “dies Veneris.” Fish are known to be extraordinarily prolific. There was a belief that animals, noted for any peculiarity, imparted their virtues to those who ate them; consequently, tigers’ flesh was supposed to give courage, and snails to give sexual power. The use of fish in connubial feasts is still common. Those who consider it pious or proper to eat fish on Venus’ day, or Friday, pro-claim themselves, unconsiously, adherents to those heathen ideas which deified parts about which no one now likes to talk. The fish has in one respect affinity with the mandrake.

Since the first publication of this work, a friend has sug-gested to me another reason, besides its fertility, for the fish being emblematic of woman. From his extensive experience as a surgeon, and especially among the lower order of courtesans, he has repeatedly noticed during the hot months of the year that the parts which he had to examine have a very strong odour of fish. My own observations in the same department lead me to endorse his assertion. Consequently, I think that in warm climates, where the utmost cleanliness can

scarely keep a female free from odour, scent, as well as other attributes, has had to do with the selection of the fish as an emblem of woman.

Still further, I have been informed by another friend that in Yorkshire, and I understand in other counties of England, the double entente connected with the fish is so marked that it is somewhat difficult to render into decent phraseology. It will suffice to say that in the county men-tioned, Lais or Phryne would be spoken of as “a choice bit of fish,” and that a man who bore on his features the stamp which is imprinted by excessive indulgence, would be said to have indulged too much in “a fish diet.” I do not suppose that in the Yorkshire Ridings the folks are unusually well acquainted with mythology, yet it is curious to find amongst their inhabitants a connection between Venus and the Fish, precisely similar to that which has obtained in the most remote ages and in far distant climes.

It is clear from all these facts that the fish is a symbol not only of woman, but of the yoni.

PLATE II.

Is supposed to represent Oannes, Dagon, or some other fish god. It is copied from Lajard, Sur le Culte de Venus, pl. xxii., 1, 1a, and is thus described, “Statuette inédite, de grès houiller ou micacé, d’un brun verdatre. Elle porte par devant, sur une bande perpendiculaire, un légende en carac-tères Syriaques tres anciens (Cabinet de M. Lambert, à Lyon).” I can find no clue to the signification of the inscription. It would seem paradoxical to say that there is something in common between the bull-headed deity and Oannes. It is so, nevertheless. One indicates, par excel- lence, physical, and the other sexual, power. That Oannes may, for the Assyrians, represent a man who played a part with them similar to that of Penn among the Indians of Pennsylvania, I do not deny; but, when we find a similar fish-god in Philistia and Hindostan, and know that Crishna

once appeared as a fish, the explanation does not suffice.

It is curious that Jesus of Nazareth should be called ‡cquj, or “a fish”; but this only proves that the religion of Christ has been adulterated by Paganism.

PLATE III.

Figs. 1 and 4 are illustrations of the antelope as a religious emblem amongst the Assyrians. The first is from Layard’s Nineveh, and in it we see carried in one hand a triply branched lotus; the second, showing the regard for the spotted antelope, and for “the branch,” is from Bonomi’s Nineveh and its Palaces.

Fig. 2 illustrates Bacchus, with a mystic branch in one hand, and a cup in the other; his robe is covered with stops, arranged in threes. The branch is emblematic of the arbor vitæ; or tree of life, and its powers of sprouting. Such a symbol is, by outsiders, figured on the houses of newly married couples amongst the Jews of Morocco, and se'ms to indicate the desire of friends that the man will show that he is vigorous, and able to have many sprouts from the tree of life. It will be noticed that on the fillet round the god’s head are arranged many crosses. From Hislop’s Two Babylons, and Smith’s Dictionary, p. 208.

Figs. 3 and 5 are intended to show the prevalence of the use of spots on priestly dresses; they are copied from Hislop’s Two Babylons, and Wilkinson, vol. vi., pl. 83, and vol. iv., pp. 314, 358. For an explanation of the significa- tion of spots, see Plate iv., Fig. 6, infra.

PLATE IV.

Fig. 1 represents an Assyrian priest worshipping by presentation of the thumb, which had a peculiar signifi-cation. Sometimes the forefinger is pointed instead, and in both cases the male is symbolised. It is taken from a plate illustrating a paper by E. C. Ravenshaw, Esq., in Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xvi., p. 114. Amongst the

Hebrews, and probably all the Shemitic tribes, bohen, the thumb, and ezba, the finger, were euphemisms. They are so in some parts of Europe to the present day.* The hand thus presented to the grove resembles a part of the Buddhist cross, and the shank of a key, whose signification is described in a subsequent page.

Fig. 2 is a Buddhist emblem; the two fishes forming the circle represent the mystic yoni, the sacti of Mahadeva, while the triad above them represents the mystie trinity, the triune father, Siva, Bel, or Asher, united with Anu and Hea.

From Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xviii., p. 392, plate ii.

Fig. 3 is a very remarkable production. It originally belonged to Mons. Lajard, and is described by him in his second Memoire, entitled Recherches sur le Culte, les Sym- boles, les Attributs, et us Monumens Figurés de Vénus (Paris, 1837), in pages 82, et seq., and figured in plate i., fig. 1. The real age of the gem and its origin are not known, but the subject leads that author to believe it to be of late Babylonian workmanship. The stone is a white agate, shaped like a cone, and the cutting is on its lower face. The shape of this gem indicates its dedication to Venus. The central figures represent the androgyne deity, Baalim, Astaroth, Elohim, Jupiter genetrix, or the bearded Venus Mylitta. On the left side ot the cuttiug we notice an erect serpent, whose rayed head makes us recognise the solar emblem, and its mundane representative, mentula arrecta; on a spot opposite to the centre of the male’s body we find a lozenge, symbolic of the yoni, whilst opposite to his feet, is the amphora, whose mystic signification may

* A friend has informed me, for example, that he happened, whilst at Perth, to look at a gorgeously dressed and handsome young woman. To his astonishment she pointed her thumb precisely in the manner adopted by the Assyrian priests;

this surprised the young man still farther, and being, as it were, fascinated, he continued to gaze. The damsel then grasped the thumb by the other hand; thus indicating her profession. My friend, who was wholly inexperienced in the ways of the world, only understood what was meant when he saw my explanation of Fig. I.

readily be recognised; it is meant for Ouranos, or the Sun fructifying Terra, or the earth, by pouring from himself into her. The three stars over the head of the figure, and the inverted triangle on its head, are representatives of the mythological four, equivalent to the Egyptian symbol of life (figs. 31, 32). Opposite to the female are the moon, and another serpent, which may be recognised by physiologists as symbolic of tensio clitoridis. In a part corresponding to the diamond, on the left side, is a six-rayed wheel, emblem-atic, apparently, of the sun. At the female’s feet is placed a cup, which is intended to represent the passive element in creation. As such it is analogous to the cresent moon, and is associated in the Roman church with the round wafer, the symbol of the sun; the wafer and cup thus being synony-mous with the sun and moon in conjunction. It will be observed that each serpent in the plate is apparently attacked by what we suppose is a dragon. There is some difficulty in understanding the exact idea intended to be conveyed by these; my own opinion is that they symbolise Satan, the old serpent that tempted Eve, viz., fierce lust, Eros, Cupid, or desire, which, both in the male and female, brings about the arrectation which the serpents figure. It is not to be passed by without notice, that the snake which represents the male has the tale curved as to suggest the idea of the second and third elements of the trinity.

Monsieur Lajard takes the dragons to indicate the bad prin-ciple in nature, i.e., darkness, night, Ahriman, etc. On the pyramidal portion of the gem the four sides are ornamented by figures—three represent animals remarkable for their salacity, and the fourth represents Bel and Ishtar in con-junction, in a fashion which can be more easily imagined than described in the mother tongue. The learned will find the position assumed in Lucretius, Dê Rerum Naturâ, book iv., lines 1256, seq.

Fig 4. is also copied from Lajard, plate i., fig. 10. It is the reverse of a bronze coin of Vespasian, struck in the

island of Cyprus, and represents the conical stone, under whose form Venus was worshipped at Paphos, of which Tacitus remarks, Hist. ii., c. 3, “the statue bears no resem-blance to the human form, but is round, broad at one end and gradually tapering at the other, like a goal. The reason of this is not ascertained.” It is remarkable that a male emblem should be said to represent Venus, but the stone was an aërolite, like that which fell at Ephesus, and was said to represent Diana. It is clear that when a meteoric stone falls, the chief priests of the district can say that it is to be taken as a representative of their divinity.

My very ingenions friend, Mr. Newton, suggests that the Venus in question was androgyne; that the cone is a male emblem, within a door, gateway, or delta, thus resembling the Assyrian grove. It is certain that the serpents, the two stars, and the two candelabra, or altars with flame, favour his idea.

Fig. 5 represents the position of the hands assumed by Jewish priests wben they give the benediction to their flock.

It will be recognised that each hand separately indicates the trinity, wbilst the junction of the two indicates the unit.

The whole is symbolic of the mystic Arba—the four, i.e., the trinity and unity. One of my informants told me that, being a “cohen” or priest, he had often administered the blessing, and, whilst showing to me this method of ben-diction. place his joined hands so that his nose entered the central aperture. On his doing so, I remarked “bene nasa- tus,” and the expression did more to convince him of the probability of my views than anything else.

Fig. 6., modified in one form or another, is the position assumed by the hand and fingers, when Roman and Angli-can bishops or other hierarchs give benediction to their people. A similar disposition is to be met with in Indian mythology, when the Creator doubles himself into male and female, so as to be in a position to originate new beings.

Whilst the right hand in Plate VII. symbolises the male,

the left hand represents the mystic feminine circle. In another plate, which is to be found in Moor’s Hindu Pan-theon, there is a similar figure, but draped fully, and in that the dress worn by the celestial spouse is covered with groups of spots arranged in triads and groups of four. With regard to the signification of spots, we may notice that they indi-cated, either by their shape or by their name, the emblem of womankind. A story of Indra, the Hindoo god of the sky, confirms this. He is usually represented as bearing a robe covered with eyes; but the legend runs that, live David, he became enamoured of the wife of another man, who was very beautiful and seen by chance, but her spouse was one whose austere piety made him almost equal to Brahma.

The evil design of Indra was both frustrated and punished.

The woman escaped, but the god became covered with marks that recalled his offence to mind for they were pictures of the yoni. These, by the strong intercession of Brahma with the Rishi, were changed by the latter into eyes. This story enables us to recognise clearly the hidden symbolism of the Hindoo and Egyptian eye, the oval representing the female, and the circle the male lodged therein—i.e., the androgyne creator.

PLATE V.

Is a copy of a mediæval Virgin and Child, as painted in Della Robbia ware in the South Kensington Museum, a copy of which was given to me by my friend, Mr. Newton, to whose kindness I am indehted for many illustrations of ancient Christian art. It represents the Virgin and Child precisely as she used to be represented in Egypt, in India, in Assyria, Babylonia, Phenicia, and Etruria; the accident of dress being of no mythological consequence. In the framework around the group, we recognise the triformed leaf, emblematic of Asher; the grapes, typical of Dionysus;

the wheat ears, symbolic of Ceres, l’abricot fendu, the mark of womankind, and the pomegranate rimmon, which

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terises the teeming mother. The living group, moreover, are placed in an archway, delta, or door, which is symbolic of the female, like the vesica piscis, the oval, or the circle.

This door is, moreover, surmounted by what appear to be snails, whose supposed virtue we have spoken of under Plate i. This identification of Mary with the Sacti is strong;

by-and-by we shall see that it is as compelte as it is possible to be made.

PLATE VI.

Is a copy of figures given in Bryant’s Ancient Mythology, plates xiii., xxviii., third edition, 1807. The first two illus-trate the story of Palemon and Cetus, introducing the dolphin. The fish is symbolic of the female, in consequence of the assonance in Greek between its name and that of the womb, delphis and delphus. The tree symbolises the arbor vitæ, the life-giving sprout; and the ark is a symbol of the womb. The third figure, where a man rests upon a rock and dolphin, and toys with a mother and child, is equally suggestive. The male is repeatedly characterised as a rock, hermes, menhir, tolmen, or upright stone, the female by the dolphin or fish. The result of the junction of these elements appears in the child, whom both parents welcome.

The fourth figure represents two emblems of the male creator, a man and trident, and two of the female, a dolphin and ship. The two last figures represent a coin of Apames, representing Noah and the ark, called Cibotus. Bryant labours to prove that the group commemorates the story told in the Bible, respecting the flood, but there is strong doubt whether the story was not of Babylonian origin. The city referred to was in Phrygia, and the coin appears to have been struck by Philip of Macedon. The inscription round the head is AΥΓ. K. IOVA ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟC. ΛΥΓ.; on the reverse, ΕΠΜΑ. VΡ. ΑΛ. ΕΞΑΝ∆Ρ. ΟΥΒ. ΑΡΧΙ ΑΠΑ-ΜΕΩΝ. See Ancient Faiths, second edition, Vol. II., pp.

123, and 385-392.

9 PLATE VII.

Is a copy of an original drawing. made by a learned Hindoo pundit for Wm. Simpson, Esq., of London: whilst he was in India studying its mythology. It represents Brahma supreme, who in the act of creation made himself double, i.e., male and female. In the original the central part of the figure is occupied by the triad and the unit, but far too grossly shown for reproduction here. They are replaced by the crux ansata. The reader will notice the triad and the serpent in the male hand, whilst in the female is to be seen a germinating seed, indicative ot the relative duties of father and mother. The whole stands upon a lotus, the symbol of androgyneity. The technical word for this incarnation is “Arddha Nari.”

PLATE VIII.

Is Devi, the same as Parvati, or Bhavani. It is copied from Moor’s Pantheon, plate xxx. The goddess represents the feminine element in the universe. Her forehead is marked by one of the symbols of the four creators, the triad and the unit. Her dress is covered with symbolic spots, and one foot peculiarly placed, is marked by a circle having a dot in the interior. The two bear the same signification as the Egyptian eye. I am not able to determine the symbolic import of the articles held in the lower hands. Moor considers that they represent scrolls of paper, but this I doubt. The raised hands bear the unopened lotus flower, and the goddess sits upon another.

PLATE IX.

Consists of six figures, copied from Maurice’s Indian Anti-quities, vol. vi., p. 273, and two from Bryant’s Mythology, vol. ii., third edition, pp. 203 and 409. All are symbolic of the idea of the male triad: a central figure, erect, and rising above the other two. In one an altar and fire indicate, mystically, the linga; in another, the same is pourtrayed as

a man, as Mahadeva always is; in another, there is a tree stump and serpent, to indicate the same idea. The two appendages of the linga are variously described; in two instances as serpents, in other two as tree and concha, and snake and shell. The two last seem to embody the idea that the right “egg” of the male germinates boys, whilst the left produces girls; a theory common amongst ancient physiologists. The figure of the tree encircled by the ser-pent, and supported by two stones resembling “tolmen,” is very significant. The whole of these figures seem to point unmistakably to the origin of the very common belief that

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